Photodetector and opto-electronic integrated circuit with guard ring
US5365087A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 12, 1993 |
| Grant date | Nov 15, 1994 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 12, 2013 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY02E10/50
Abstract
A photodetector of the present invention is devised to reduce the dark current by employing a novel guard ring structure suitable for a mesa type photodiode (PD). Namely, the PD of the present invention has the structure in which a p-type or n-type semiconductor region which is to be a light receiving area is surrounded by a semiconductor region (guard ring) of the same conduction type. A guard ring electrode is formed on the guard ring region and is kept at the same potential as an electrode on a region desired to reduce the dark current. Also, an opto-electronic integrated circuit of the present invention has such a structure that a PD, which is the photodetector of the present invention, and a circuit element such as a transistor are formed on a common semiconductor substrate and that an anode electrode or a cathode electrode of the PD is conductively connected to a gate electrode of a field-effect transistor or to a base electrode of a bipolar transistor.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.